Stocking.



E. W. DECKER,

STOCKING.

APPLwATIori FILED )QAR. 11. 1913.

1,1 19,930,- Patented Dec.8,1914.

owibvuzoaao: g z W vet W06,

ELLEN w. DECKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

STOCKING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed March 11, 1913. Serial No. 753,494.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLEN W. DECKER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, borough and county ofRichmond, city and State of New York, have made a new and usefulImprovement in Stockings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the same general character of improvement instockings as that set forth in United States Letters Patent granted tome August 20, 1912, Number 1,036,196. In the practical use of thatinventi on it has been found that the stockings which are subjected torough usage, particularly if made of light, sheer material, are apt totear out somewhat about the button hole because of the fabricconstituting the body of the stocking itself. Also some persons are ofopinion that it is harmful to have any of the metal parts of the hosesupporters come in direct contact with the skin of the wearer. In order,therefore, to strengthen the construction and avoid cutting of thestocking fabric and also to prevent direct contact between any of themetal parts of the hose supporter and the skin of the wearer, I haveinvented the construction described and claimed below, the essentialfeatures of which are that certain flap-like parts containing an openingthrough which the button of the hose supporter may be passed, areattached at one end to the outside of the top of-the stocking,preferably, but not necessarily within the hem thereof, so that the hosesupporting device being connected with these loose flaps, the top of thestocking will lie between the metal parts of the hose supporter and theskin of the wearer, and thus no direct contact between them will bepossible and the material of which the flaps are formed, if properlyarranged, will act as a reinforce and strengthening device for the topof the stocking rather than a weakening feature thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top ofa stocking embodying the invention, showing double open loops; Fig. 2 isa view similar to Fig. 1, showing single open loops; Fig. 3 is a viewshowing the details of the construction shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a viewshowing the details of the construction shown in Fig. 2.

In the drawings 1 represents the upper part of the stocking, 2 the usualseam in the loops 5, double loops being shown in Fig. 1

and single loops in Fig. 2. These loops are preferably formed andattached to the stocking, partly at least within the hem, as follows:Starting at the bottom, the lower end of the braid is first bentbackwardly to form a hem as shown at 6. It is then carried upwardly adistance and formed into the loop 5 and then, if double loops are usedas illustrated in Fig. 1, it is carried still farther upwardly andformed into another loop 5. Where the tape is brought to ether andoverlapped as at the bottom 0 each loop, strong stitching 7 is employed,whereby the loops are firmly held and the tape securely fastened to thestocking, the stitches passing not only through the tape but throughboth thicknesses of the hem of the stocking. \Vhere single loops onlyare employed, as in Fig. 2, I prefer to extend the lower end of the-tapesomewhat as compared with the construction illustrated in Fig. 1, sothat the loop may have a more secure hold upon the stocking to withstandthe strains to which they are subjected.

As above intimated, I prefer that the folded loop strips shall bestitched or otherwise fastened to the stocking wholly within the hem atthe top of the leg and particularly if the single loop construction isemployed because then the attaching stitches pass not only through theoverlapped parts of the tape but also through both thicknesses of thestocking, resulting in a very. secure and reliable construction. This isnot essential, however, for a part of the stitching at least may bebelow the hem. I illustrate this latter construction because it will beentirely permissible in stockings made of strong material and aconsiderable saving may be effected in the reduced width of the hem.

The operation is obvious. The loops proper are what may be called loose,that is to say, they are attached to the stocking at their bottom only,so that their upper part may be bent outwardly for convenient engagementwith the button or other element of the hose supporter, which is passedthrough the loop, and the head of the button, or its equivalent, thenproperly engaged with the co-acting member of the supporter in the usualmanner, and when the strain of the supporter comes upon the loops theywill be pulled upwardly and consequently inwardly toward the top of thestocking, which will intervene between the supporter and loops and theleg of the wearer, thus avoiding any abrasion of the skin of the wearer,with a most comfortable and satisfactory result.

It will be obvious to those who are familiar with such matters that theloopstrips instead of being tape or braid, may be of any other suitablematerial; also that modifications in details may be made withoutdeparting from the essentials of the invention.

I do not herein claim a stocking having attached thereto by sewing atape arranged longitudinally of the stocking and formed intermediate itsends into a number of folds each constituting a tab attached to the tapeat its lower end only, each of said tabs being provided with abutton-hole, said tape being of different material than said stocking,because although I believe myself to be the first inventor of thesubject matter of the above vdisclaimer, yet I was not the first toreduce the same to practice nor to file an application for LettersPatent therefor.

I claim:

1. A stocking having stitched on the outside of the leg a verticallyarranged continuous piece of fabric material folded upon itself into aprojecting open loop which is 5 adapted to receive within it the buttonof a separate hose supporter depending from above, the stitchingoccurring transversely of the said'fabric material at the base of theloop and also vertically lengthwise of that part of the fabric materialwhich is in contact with the stocking, so that many of the threads ofthe latter are engaged by the stitlching and supported by the fabricmateria ""ZrA stocking having a hem at the top, a vertically arrangedcontinuous piece of fabric material folded upon itself into a pluralityof projecting open loops, each of which is adapted to receive within itthe button of a 50 separate hose supporter suspended fromf) above,stitching at the base of each loop extending transversely of the fabricmaterial and other stitching extending vertically lengthwise of thatpart of the fabric material which is in contact with the stocking, thestitching passing through the fabric material and through boththicknesses of the hem, whereby many of the threads of the stocking areengaged by the stitching and supported by the fabric material.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELLEN IV. DECKER.

Witnesses:

PHILLIP ABBOTT, WALTER H. CRITTENDEN.

